Coming soon to the Nevada desert: “BundyFest”?

AllahpunditPosted at 8:01 pm on April 23, 2014

Via Becket Adams and TheBlaze, it’s not what you think. Although it does sound like it’ll involve a lot of, er, freedom.

Attendees of the annual Burning Man festival plan to converge near Cliven Bundy’s property in September for a 30-day “rules-free” gathering, a cheeky response to the rancher’s refusal to recognize federal authority in Nevada.

“For years, we paid permitting fees to hold Burning Man on the beautiful Playa in Northern Nevada,” reads the event’s Facebook page. “But now, Cliven Bundy has shown us a NEW WAY! ABSOLUTE FREEDOM! Bundy has declared the entire area surrounding Bundy Ranch as a TOTALLY RULES-FREE ZONE! ANYTHING GOES! WOO-HOO!!!”…

No permits will be required for “BundyFest,” nudity is encouraged and participants are expected to embrace the festival’s gay friendly atmosphere, according to the event’s Facebook page.

There will be no bathroom facilities, Shealy warned, but festivalgoers can always use the great outdoors.

“You’re free to let it all hang out right there, just like Bundy’s cattle, right there in the Virgin River, if you want to,” he said.

It started as a Facebook goof aimed at satirizing Bundy’s claim to the land but it’s gotten picked up by various lefty, and even mainstream, media outlets so now maybe it’s becoming a thing. The plan, supposedly, is to set up shop on federal land across the street from Bundy’s ranch and “let it all hang out.” As for the militias, here’s what the “organizer” told the Las Vegas Sun:

We have in fact, invited the militias. They will be needed. They are defending the principle that this land is open and free to all to use however we wish — and that includes BundyFest! We will need them to hold off the BLM and local law enforcement throughout this festival, just as they showed up for Cliven Bundy. It is the exact same principle. There cannot be one set of laws for Bundy and a different set for the rest of us. If the militias are acting on principle, then they will defend our rights, as well.

Bundy’s been using the land far longer than BundyFest has, of course, but contrary to what I’ve seen on some sites, his family wasn’t there before the feds were. This local news report has a thorough timeline of events. The federal grazing district in Vegas was established in 1936, the BLM was established in 1946, and then Bundy’s parents purchased the ranch in 1948, when he was two. Either way, I’m curious to know what the BLM’s response will be if the BundyFest people manage to pull together a crowd for the “festival.” Will they let them on the land to make a point or try to keep them off lest they be accused of a double standard?

Via RCP, here’s Bill O’Reilly asking one Bundy supporter what the difference is between him and Occupy Wall Street. After all, they both seized public land (well, quasi-public in the case of Zuccotti Park) for their own ends. The reply comes that Bundy is doing something productive whereas OWS was clearly not, but c’mon: It can’t be that a few thousand OWSers occupying Central Park would be tolerated if only they promised to grow vegetables for sale.